Golf bag

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a golf bag, comprising a housing ( 1 ), the bottom of the housing having several stationary feet ( 7 ) and wheels ( 8 ), the top of the housing having a cap ( 12 ), and at least a first hand-carrying strap ( 3 A) for pulling the bag, wherein the housing ( 1 ) is generally rectangular in shape and encloses a storage rack ( 2 ), which includes a plurality of storage compartments ( 21 ) close to the front portion of the housing and opened to the front and a plurality of compartments ( 28 ) close to the rear portion and opened upward; and an openable access portion ( 11 ) is arranged in the front side of the housing ( 1 ) in the position corresponding to the compartments ( 21 ) of the storage rack ( 2 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a golf bag, particularly to anovel multifunctional golf bag in a rectangular shape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Golf is an elegant sport, which has become popular in the world becauseof its nice environment, appropriate intensity and rich entertainment.

With the development of the sport, more and more fans would like to playin different golf courses to experience different environments andtopographical conditions rather than just in their local courses. Tomeet this demand, the golf fans have to travel frequently to differentcities or countries. Their golf bags are the essential part of theirluggage. So, the structure and functions of a golf bag are veryimportant factors that may make their travel convenient and smooth. Mostknown golf bags are generally cylindrical in shape and not neat. Suchbags are inconvenient for transportation and the golf clubs kept thereinmay be damaged. On the other hand, their functions are too simple tomeet various requirements. For instance, the conventional golf bag canbe used only for keeping golf clubs, balls and other such items, but notfor other articles needed in the travel. This puts travelers to beinconvenience. Up to date, little development has been made in thestructure and functions of the conventional golf bags.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag with animproved structure and comprehensive functions. In the course oftransportation, the bag is capable of preventing the contents from beingdamaged.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a golf bagincluding a rectangular housing made of waterproof material,multi-stationary feet and wheels disposed on the bottom of the housing,an openable cap attached to the top of the housing, a multifunctionalintegral storage rack enclosed exterior by the housing, and at least onehand-carrying strap set on the housing for carrying the bag. The storagerack is divided generally two groups from its front surface to its rearsurface, in which one group being the front half part and the othergroup being the rear half part. The front half part including aplurality of storage compartments opening forwardly, and the rear halfpart including a plurality of club compartments opening upwards. Anopening corresponding to each opening of the storage compartments isdisposed in the housing. For covering each opening, an openable cover isso disposed in the housing that it is partly connected with the housingand its remaining part connected the circumference of the correspondingopening in the housing by a zipper. One can put items in the storagecompartment or pull the items out of it by operating the zipper. Theclub compartments are covered by the cap located in the closed position.

The invention has improved completely the inner structure and appearanceof the conventional golf bag to meet people's requirements forappreciation and practical use. The rectangular shape is neat and prettyand is capable of being easily carried and transported. From the pointof view of the inner structure, the prefabricated storage rack iscapable of preventing the bag from deformation and squeeze duringtransportation. In this way, the golf clubs can be protected perfectly.Furthermore, the storage rack helps to store different things indifferent shapes and increase the functions of the bag to satisfyvarious needs. The prefabricated structure can simplify themanufacturing process of the golf bag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the golf bagaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the storage rack;

FIG. 3 is the top view of the storage rack;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the storage rack, taken from the line A—Ain FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is another sectional view of the storage rack, taken from theline B—B in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows an adjustable supporting structure of the bag according tothe present invention, which is arranged on one side in the golf bag,and also shows its state in use;

FIG. 7 shows a rotatable regulator to be used in the adjustablesupporting structure shown in FIG. 6 according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will be described in details in combination with thedrawings and embodiments.

An embodiment of a golf bag according to the present invention is shownin FIG. 1. The golf bag is generally rectangular in shape and includes ahousing 1 made of high quality waterproof material. A storage rack 2(not shown in FIG. 1) is similar with the housing 1 in shape andarranged within the housing 1 so that the housing 1 encloses exteriorthe rack 2. This means that the housing can completely enclose thestorage rack 2 to form a rectangular golf bag composed of two layerscomprising the housing 1 and the rack 2.

The storage rack 2 is integrally prefabricated through the injectionmolding process by using form plastic in high-density. For convenienceto description, the side with numeral 13 in FIG. 1 is referred to as thefront side. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 6, which are the front view ofthe storage rack 2 and the top rear perspective view of the golf bagaccording to the present invention, respectively, the storage rack 2consists of a plurality of compartments separated by partition wallsintegrally molded. These compartments may be divided two groups. Onegroup is the front portion of the rack and located near the front sideof the rack, and the other group is the rear portion of the rack andlocated near the rear side of the rack. The front portion of the storagerack 2 consists of a plurality of storage compartments 21, for instance,compartment 21A for shoes, compartment 21B for golf balls, compartment21C for drinks, compartment 21D for gloves, compartment 21E for food,compartment 21F for clothes and compartment 21G for keys. Thesecompartments 21 are opened forwardly [to the front]. The rear portion ofthe storage rack includes a plurality of compartments comprising anumber of golf club compartments and umbrellas compartment as well asadditional compartments for other purposes, and these compartmentsopening upwards, as shown by numerals 28, 29 etc. in FIGS. 3-5. FIG. 3is the top view of the storage rack of the golf bag of the invention.FIG. 4 is the left sectional view of the storage rack of the golf bag ofthe invention from Line A—A of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is the rear sectional viewof the storage rack of the golf bag of the invention, taken from LineB—B of FIG. 3. According to one embodiment of the invention, a shallowupward opened compartment 27 is set above the storage compartments. Thecompartment 27 is opened upward. The compartments are separated bypartition walls.

An openable cover 11 is arranged in the front of the housing in thepositions corresponding to each opening of the storage compartments 21.As shown in FIG. 1, the cover 11 for each opening is an integral portionof the housing 1 with at least its bottom edge integrally connected withthe housing and the remaining sides, shown as top, left and right sidesin FIG. 1, connected to the circumference of the opening in the housingitself by a zipper. One can easily access the storage compartment byunzipping the zip. When the zipper is fastened, each storage compartmentis closed and the golf bag can easily be transported or carried withoutthe damage of the items in the storage compartments. It is also easy tofetch items from the storage compartments by unzipping the openablecover In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a first hand-carrying strap 3Aand a second hand-carrying strap 3B are arranged respectively at theupper and lower ends of the front portion of the housing. As an example,there may be a hand-carrying strap attached to the housing by sewing, asunderstood by one the skilled in the art. A ball-base package 18 may befixed closely at the lower end of the housing.

A bag cap 12 is arranged on the top of the housing. The front portion12A of the cap 12 is zipped with side portions 12B and 12C of the cap12. The two side portions 12B and 12C are also zipped to the top portion12D of the cap 12. The housing 1 and the cap 12 are further connected bya plurality of buttons, for example, buttons such as those used incommon jeans, which are set on the lower edges of the front portion 12Aand two side portions 12B and 12C of the cap, and the engaging buttonsarranged on the corresponding positions of the upper edges of thehousing. Further as shown in FIG. 6, which shows an adjustablesupporting structure of the golf bag and its state in use. A pluralityof buttons 13 are also set on the appropriate points of the back of thehousing for engaging with the buttons of the cap 12 when the cap 12 isopened and turned down towards and along the back of the housing 1. Thecap 12 is lined with padding 14 to which high-density sponge 15 isattached. In other words, as shown in FIG. 1, the cap is formed bysandwiching the padding 14 and the sponge 15. The padding is used toreinforce the cap and serve as a protective panel when the cap is openedand turned down.

A carrying band 4 and a third hand-carrying strap 5 may be set on theleft side of the housing. The band 4 and the strap 5 may be put into abag 16, which is fixed on the left side of the housing and can be openedand closed with a zipper connected between the bag 16 and the housing.As shown in FIG. 1, the bag 16 may be arranged within a concave in thehousing 1 and the rack 2. As understood by one the skilled in the art,an opening may be arranged in the housing corresponding to the positionof the strap 5 so that the strap 5 extends through the housing forconvenient use. In addition, the band 4 and the strap 5 can be connectedto the housing by any suitable means in the art.

An adjustable supporting structure 6, arranged on the right side of thehousing, is shown in FIG. 6. The supporting structure 6, which can beput into a bag 17 fixed on the right side of the housing, consists of asupporting plate 62, a rotatable regulator 63 and a positioning rod 64.The supporting plate 62 is made of aluminum-alloy and its top edge isconnected with one leaf of a hinge 61. Another leaf of the hinge 61 isfixed on the housing. The middle portion of the supporting plate 62 canbe engaged with the rotatable regulator 63 through a Ω-shaped base fixedon the plate 62. An example of a connection between a Ω-shaped base andthe regulator 63 is shown in FIG. 10. A Ω-shaped base is a commonstructure used to connect a rod to other members. The Ω-shaped base isfixed to the housing or the plate with any suitable fixing means. FIG. 7shows the structure of the rotatable regulator 63. The main body of theregulator 63 is a hollow bar. The fore-end of the center hole 632 of thebar has a ball 633 and the other end has a screw 634. A spring 635 isset between the ball 633 and the screw 634 for pressing the ball 633. Ahole 631 is formed vertically with the center hole 632. A neck portion636 of the regulator 63 is used for engaging with the Ω-shaped base onthe supporting plate 62. One end of the positioning rod 64 made ofaluminum-alloy is bent at an angle of 90° and connected with a Ω-shapedbase on the housing. An example of the connection is shown in FIG. 11.The bent end of the rod 64 is rotatable in the n-shaped base so that therod can be erected against the side portion of the housing if the rod isfree at the other end. In use, the other end of the positioning rod 64passes through the hole 631 so that the rod 64 can be radically moved inthe hole 631 in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis ofthe regulator 63. Three circular concave notches 641 are set in thepositioning rod 64 for adjusting the angle between the plate 62 and thehousing 1. When the supporting plate 62 and the positioning rod 64 arenot in use, they can be put back into an outer bag 17. The bag 16 and 17can be connected to the housing by zippers, as conventionally done inthe art. When being used, the bag can be tilted at an angle to make iteasy fetch the golf clubs. In this case, the plate 62 and the rod 64 arereleased from the outer bag 17 and the regulator 63 engages with one ofconcave notches 641 at a desired angle. The ball 633 will be pressedagainst the rod 64 passing through the hole 631 to fix the position dueto the function of the spring in the center hole 632.

The bottom of the housing 1 is fitted with stationary feet 7 and wheels8. The golf bag may be moved by pulling the hand-carrying straps. Areinforced band 9 may be provided between the housing 1 and cap 12 toincrease the strength of the bag.

Now turn to the brief description of the manufacturing method of thegolf bag according to the present invention.

As stated above, the golf bag according to the present inventionincludes a storage rack and a housing. Accordingly, the golf bag can bemanufactured as follows: at first, provide an storage rack pre-moldedintegrally to have a desired structure such as one shown in FIG. 2,having storage compartments opening forwardly and club compartments andother compartments opening upwards. Then, corresponding the shape of therack and openings of the storage compartments, provide a housing made ofwaterproof fabric, such as a housing shown in FIG. 1, with the housingincluding a cap, covers for the storage compartments, buttons andzippers etc. as desired. If desired, the housing can include other bagssuch as the bags 16, 17 shown in FIG. 1. Last, enclose the housingexterior to the storage rack and obtain the golf bag according to thepresent invention. Of course, before or after enclosing the housingexterior to the rack, if a supporting structure such as the structure 6is required, the structure 6 may be mounted to the housing. When oneintends to transport the golf bag, he can first put all items he willneed in the golf bag, then fasten all the zippers to close all thestorage compartments and the additional bags such as bag 16 and 17. Andthen he can engage the buttons on the lower edges of the cap and thebuttons on the upper edge of the housing to close the housing with thecap. In this case, the closed golf bag is ready to be transported.

As described above, the storage rack having a plurality of storagecompartments in different shapes may store different things. When thebag is to be used, the cap 12 is unzipped and the front part of thehousing 1 is unbuttoned. Then, the cap can be tipped to the back of thehousing and the two side parts of the cap can be folded toward thecenterline of the back. The opened cap can be fixed on the back of thehousing through the buttons on the back of the housing. Now, the upperportion of the bag is opened and the golf clubs can be put into the golfclub compartment of the storage rack 2. When the openable cover isunzipped, balls, ball-bases and other desired articles, such as theumbrella, shoes, drinks, gloves, food, clothes, etc. can be put in. Whengolfer is moving to other holes during the play, he can carry the bag byuse of the carrying band. The cap is lined with padding and a layer ofsponge, which can support the cap and form a soft and comfortable backwhen the player is carrying the bag. When the player wants to fetch golfclubs, he will make the housing be titled at an angle by pulling thesupporting plate 62 and positioning rod 64 from the bag 17 to outside.After an angle is selected, the regulator 63 is engaged with one of theconcave notches 641 and the ball 633 is forced by the spring against therod 64 for positioning. Thanks to the arrangement of wheels on thebottom of the housing, the bag may be pulled by use of the hand-carryingstrap.

What is claim is:
 1. A golf bag comprising: an integral storage rackcomprising a top portion, a bottom portion, first and second sideportions, a front portion, a rear portion, and an interior wall portionconfigured to divide the front portion of the storage rack from the rearportion, said front portion of the rack defining a plurality of frontcompartments extending into the storage rack and opening toward thefront portion, said rear portion of the rack defining a rear compartmentopen at the top portion of the rack and extending into the rack towardthe bottom portion, wherein said interior wall portion is substantiallyperpendicular to said bottom portion; a housing comprising: waterprooffabric configured to enclose the front portion, rear portion, and sideportions of the storage rack; a plurality of openings, each opening inthe housing being in communication with a front compartment andconfigured to permit access to the front compartment; and coversconnected to the housing corresponding to each opening and configuredpermit the openings in the housing to be open and closed; a cap disposedon the housing and configured to enclose the top portion of the storagerack; and a plurality of wheels extending from the bottom portion of thestorage rack; an adjustable stand disposed on the first side portion ofthe storage rack comprising: a support member rotatably attached to thefirst side portion and configured to support the golf bag in a stableposition during use; a positioning rod rotatably attached to the firstside portion and comprising a notch; and a regulator, rotatably attachedto the support member, defining an opening sized to permit thepositioning rod to pass into the regulator and configured to engage thepositioning rod at the notch to restrict the rotation of the supportmember.
 2. The golf bag of claim 1 wherein the cap comprises a foampadding.
 3. The golf bag of claim 1 wherein the storage rack furthercomprises a top compartment disposed at the top of the front portion,opening upwardly, and extending into the front portion of the storagerack.
 4. The golf bag of claim 1 further comprising a carrying handledisposed on the housing and a carrying shoulder strap disposed on thehousing.
 5. The golf bag of claim 1 wherein the storage rack is formedfrom a thermoplastic polymer.
 6. The golf bag of claim 1 wherein thestorage rack is formed from a high density polymer.
 7. The golf bag ofclaim 1 wherein the storage rack is injection molded.